Is she BU or are we bad neighbours?

[TravellingSpoon]

We have a cat who is an outdoor cat and who likes to roam but normally within the proximity of our nearest neighbours.

She likes to hunt and is a prolific hunter. At one point we were getting a bird every other day or so. Neighbour mentioned she didnt like her round her bird table as she 'stalks about looking for little birds.' WE got her a collar with a bell, now neighbour is complaining that she can hear the bell tinkling as she runs round the garden, both hers and ours.

She has been round this evening to say that our cat is ruining her enjoyment of the garden and can we keep her in the house or in our garden.

I would say that the cat is out maybe 30% of the day, the rest she is being generally lazy laid out on the sofa.

Your lucky a bell stops your cat. Mine must know how to silence her bell as she brings me back dead and alive presents despite the bell

Actually I prefer cats to people...

I have a squirrel coming stealing my bird food and frightening the birds away. Who do I complain to? 😂

My cat is a brilliant hunter. So she now wears one of these over her normal collar, and hasn't caught a single bird since. Thoroughly recommend. Birds see her coming a mile off, but she still manages to get voles and mice.

www.birdsbesafe.com

Should be obligatory for all cats. (Love cats, but love birds too).

It’s obviously in cats nature and ‘what they do’. I think the issue is they’re considered to be ‘wild’ and benefit from such status and yet are also considered pets and get that benefit as well. If they really were wild than the species would obviously survive but the number of cats is disproportionate because they’re getting fed and watered by loving owners. I love cats personally so don’t lay into me but there are too many of them and disturb the natural equilibrium. There wouldn’t be an issue with birds if it was only wild / country ones doing it.

A cat is the one of the few pets anyone is allowed to own but not have any responsibility for like shitting in people’s gardens etc. There are many other animals which do this but they really are considered wild and aren’t pets

If anyone ever deliberately harmed a cat of mine, I'd throttle that person with my bare hands.

I would never suggest anybody deliberately hurting an animal. However, if you deliberately let your cat poo in a neighbour's garden and their toddler scoops up the poo, wipes it in their eyes and goes blind as a result - would you think it only fair if the neighbour came over and throttled you with their bare hands?

I think it’s a bit odd that she’s complained after you’ve tried to make an adjustment (cat bell) to try and prevent your kitty from hunting the birds. I do understand that some people just aren’t cat people and I understand your neighbour wanting to be able to enjoy her garden/wild birds - but there’s only so much you can do. Keeping a cat indoors 24/7 for no good reason (health conditions or near busy roads etc) is cruel to the animal. No two ways about it.

I have four cats and yes, they can be downright bastards at times, I’ll admit it.

A few PP have commented that cats aren’t native to this country, a lot of wild birds aren’t either. They’ve been here a damn long time though, as have cats. There is some evidence of native British cats from the Iron Age though so maybe a bit more research is needed there?

Those who comment on the effect cats have on wildlife in general - I get it, I do, but I would argue that feral cats are more damaging than most well-fed, tame cats. The counter argument to this (logically) is that a feral cat is more likely to eat its kill where a tame one is hunting for ‘sport’ but there is very little way to prove this. I’ve had this discussion with a fair few people over the years and so it then becomes a conversation about ethics... something cats can’t really be held accountable for.

Thankfully my males aren’t big on hunting, we had a period when the youngest bought home a dead mouse or two, four massive (still alive!) rats and one wood pigeon which we guess must have been sick/injured already because it was twice his size. Since he got out of his adolescence, the most we get is gifts of dead house spiders - usually left on our bed for us...

A bit of trivia: Cats who poop in a garden but don’t cover it are essentially sending a “this is my territory” message to other cats.

I understand that’s pretty gross and would encourage any cat owners to get to know their neighbours where possible and at least OFFER to clean up their cats mess - as I do. Rather that than somebody getting PO’d and trying to injure/kill my cats.

we don't have a cat but apparently 3 neighbour cats have decided that our garden is a good place to have their daily social -they don't fight just sit about chilling - they ignore the birds (& us) & the birds ignore them - if you have cats appearing in the garden & you don't want them hiss (or get a water pistol :) )

or get some lion poo (I have heard this works but I cant imagine the smell!)

The effect cats have on wildlife is miniscule compared to the effect humans are having.

It's more that cats are part of the effect that humans are having on the environment. No humans, no pet cats. Cats and other introduced animals are just one element of the whole picture - a larger or smaller element depending on where you live in the world and which native animal you choose to focus on, but they are not a separate issue from human impact.

wooley - you get a fox to catch the squirrel - but I don't know who you get to catch the fox (sounds like that old song about the spider)

@puppymonkey HOUSE😂

Problem is, there are millions of pet cats in the UK and they kill millions of birds each year. No wonder op’s neighbour is cross. Dispzens of species are declining and people are treating this like a joke? It’s not.

Op, keep your cat in from dusk to dawn to limit the number of birds she kills.

Feral cats undoubtedly have a much bigger impact than pet cats, but the feral cats didn't appear by magic. They came from pets...

There are undoubtedly some wild birds that were introduced - pheasants, ring necked parakeets, some ornamental ducks. But I have huge reservations about pheasants and pheasant shooting, and I am equally not massively in favour of a spreading ring neck population. The ducks seem not to be spearing in numbers that make them a problem. Not sure what can be done about it but again, humans put an animal where it doesn't belong, and then are surprised when the new environment can't cope. Lots of wild birds are introduced? I'm not sure it's lots.

(As someone with a background in conservation, introduced species account for a hell of a lot of problems across the world - rats, mongooses, rabbits, cats, goats, macaques ..... all have caused issues in different parts of the world. We are very good at dismissing it here until something is a real issue, like Japanese Knotweed. But mostly we see it as something distinct from human involvement and therefore 'natural' and not a real problem. I'm not arguing that cats are on a level with Japanese Knotweed but they are part of the human interference with the environment).

What a load of nonsense Unicorn!!!
You can be criminally prosecuted for what you have just suggested!

I have a cat, I accept she hunts during the summer. Of course I don’t like it but we also do the bell around the neck and try to let her out minimally. That’s all we can do

Just be firm with your neighbour.

'Sorry, I can't keep the cat inside or stop her from coming into your garden. I've put a collar on her to stop her getting the birds. If you don't like the noise, I'll take it off, but then she will get the birds. Your call.'

My cat wouldn't put up with this moaning about her collar shit! She is being very unreasonable almost immature in fact, she moans about the birds 🐦 not wanting to be eaten, but doesn't want the noise of a collar (which scares them away solving the issue ) to be disturbing her 🙃🙃you cannot win, just ignore her😶

Get a trampoline. Use it until 10pm every night. Don't oil the springs. She'll forget all about the cat.

Don't know why, but cats seem to soil every back garden except their own.
Dog owners are so much more responsible pet owners. They don't allow their dogs to randomly loiter in neighbouring gardens.

my cat is such a wimp that a leaf chased him down the lane the other day

My mum's cat refuses to walk on the carpet and jumps from one piece of furniture to the other instead.

If she doesn't like your cat in her garden then stop being so selfish and do something about it. You own the cat you cat proof YOUR garden so that she stays in your yard and not other people's.

It depends, if the cat is using the bird table as target practice in an assassin like way, that is a bit crappy. I don't really know how you'd get around it though.

They do what they want and it's hard to control what your cat does. Maybe the neighbour would be better hanging fat balls, plus a seed dispenser, to minimise casualties.

I don’t like cats coming round my bird table and killing the hungry birds for fun. If this was my garden I would kick the cats dam arse.

I also don’t like cats shifting in my garden at every opportunity.

@thedarkpassenger so you think it is ok for the cat to have killed the chicken (ie some else's pet) but not someone to have killed the cat?

I think neither is acceptable but this is what happens when people don't acknowledge that their pet causes problems and do something about it.